Tuesday, November 01, 2011

As part of our outreach work, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will host a morning get-together at the ICIS Shanghai Conference. Meeting will occur on :Monday Dec 5th: 7:30 AM-8:30 AM 5F Shanghai International Convention Center

This meeting is hosted by the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/). The managing editor (Dr. Yesha Sivan) will open with a short review on the field, and the Journal. We will then turn to members to discuss publication and editorship opportunities. We will then to hear new focus and insights.

Discussant: Marco De Marco, on building a new discipline.Professor of organization and information systems Università Guglielmo Marconi, Roma, Italy.

Abstract

Virtual Worlds for Learning: The IBM China Perspective

IBM has officially debuted on the virtual worlds business since 2007, and ever since learning has been one of the mainstream applications of virtual worlds inside IBM. With the advancement of some newly emerged 3D virtual world platforms, we believe it could mean a perfect storm for learning by leveraging on the virtual worlds and social computing technologies.

In order to provide the thought leadership and develop best practices for learning within a virtual social environment, IBM 3D Immersive Learning Center of Excellence (3DIL CoE) was formed in 2008. Built upon the abundant collective experience from both internal and external teams who have engaged in virtual world learning, the IBM 3DIL CoE has developed some reusable assets and templates for designing and developing learning programs, activities, and events.

Different countries may have different adoption level of learning within a virtual social environment. The comparatively poor bandwidth conditions and low configuration of laptop are the top two reasons that keep some employees from India and China away from such innovative learning opportunities.

Despite the technical constraints, business owners in IBM China have embraced the virtual world learning with great enthusiasm. So far it has been piloted in pillars such as professional development, technical development, and even leadership training courses. The format of the application ranges from smart workplace, business simulation, collaborative learning, new employee orientation, speed mentoring, posters session, and events such as virtual world graduation ceremony.

About Yi Qing He

Yiqing He (Yiqing Hereter, SL) is a senior learning designer and developer with the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. He is responsible for designing and developing reusable learning assets, coaching and enabling best practices, and leading the business transformation with 3D virtual world learning in IBM.

Yiqing has diverse and seasoned experience in designing and developing technology-enhanced learning products, ranging from digital textbook, interactive learning games, simple e-learning courses, to college-wide curriculum design, LMS implementation, and LCMS solution design and development. Prior to joining IBM, Yiqing worked with many multinational teams and corporations in the e-learning industry. The most successful project he led was a $4 million project co-sponsored by US Department of Education and China Ministry of Education, with 15 team members working for 2.5 years.

Yiqing was hired by IBM in early 2008 into the GCG HR Learning team as an advisory learning specialist. Beginning October of that year, he joined IBM Center for Advanced Learning and became one of the core members of the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. Yiqing quickly adopted the design skills for 3D virtual world learning, and successfully led several pilot products in both Active Worlds and Second Life platforms, including Blue Pathway, G100 Club, Blue Team Beyond Boundaries, and IBM Learning Center Island. Yiqing has also evangelized about best practices on 3D virtual world learning to more than three thousand IBMers, including GCG HR Learning facilitators, ISC DE mentors and mentees, ISSC ADM Sharenet participants, and GCG technical group Sharenet participants.

This is a cool opportunity to learn about Social Business, get to know people from all over the world
and participate in the famous IBM Jam engine. (For those who are more interested in Jam -- see Harvard Business item on Value Jam (BTW, I will be hosting part of the jam for few hrs on the 9th, follow the plan).

The W3C Social Business Jam is an online conversation among an
international group of leaders from business, government and academia about
the current state of social business and the future role social technologies
can play in improving the bottom line for companies.

* What does it mean to have a social network in the organization?
* Shell I allow my employees to use Facebook in work?
* My clients already "check-in" into my site every time they come to get service?
* Can I use my internal network with my clients?
* What are some of the circles I should worry about (Employees, Alums, customers, partners, suppliers, etc)

The Jam should produce a better understanding for participants on how
businesses are using social technologies and the
challenges they face integrating the technologies into their existing
environments.
Participants can interact with a variety of experts on six
different topics around social business and are encouraged to ask questions
and state their opinions as these topics are discussed.

The Jam transcends time zones and geographic boundaries by using an online
discussion format available 24 hours day from virtually
any browser.

Since 2001, IBM has used jams to involve its more than 300,000 employees around the world in far-reaching exploration and problem-solving. ValuesJam in 2003 gave IBM's workforce the opportunity to redefine the core IBM values for the first time in nearly 100 years. During IBM's 2006 Innovation JamTM - the largest IBM online brainstorming session ever held - IBM brought together more than 150,000 people from 104 countries and 67 companies. As a result, 10 new IBM businesses were launched with seed investment totaling $100 million.

Jams are not restricted to business. Their methods, tools and technology can also be applied to social issues. In 2005, over three days, the Government of Canada, UN-HABITAT and IBM hosted Habitat Jam. Tens of thousands of participants - from urban specialists, to government leaders, to residents from cities around the world - discussed issues of urban sustainability. Their ideas shaped the agenda for the UN World Urban Forum, held in June 2006. People from 158 countries registered for the jam and shared their ideas for action to improve the environment, health, safety and quality of life in the world's burgeoning cities.